Product design teams are required to consider the manufacturing lead time and cost implications of their designs, necessitating the submission of multiple requests for quote (RFQ) to suppliers for prototype and pre-production components. This can be a time consuming and difficult process, hence the recent race by suppliers to shorten the time to provide quotes, with some even offering “instant” quotations. But is this really a good thing for complex, custom injection molding projects? Instead, invest the time to work with our team for a custom quote.
The constant pressure to deliver information faster is very real
In almost everything we do as consumers today, we demand instant feedback, one click ordering, immediate information, and around the clock personal support. Accelerating this responsiveness arms race further, the pressure to actually predict our desires before we have them, and present solutions proactively is real and increasing. These demands are fueled by the successes of Amazon, Google, and myriad others who have trained us that we can inform ourselves, make purchasing decisions, and have them fulfilled immediately regardless of where we are, 24/7, with incredible accuracy and delightful convenience.
Fast does not necessarily equate to good
These B2C expectations are naturally being translated to B2B customer interactions as well, but is instant gratification universally good in business?
Certainly, the argument can be made for standard, off-the-shelf products that are simple and well understood, the immediate fulfillment of specifications and pricing information via self-service downloads or web configurators: e.g. “How much does the new iPhone 11 with a silver case cost?” But what about truly customized products (as distinct from configurable products)?
But what about truly customized products (as distinct from configurable products)?
Is instant gratification universally good in business?
For many industries, including custom injection molding, the need to convey and confirm understanding of complex information regarding primary and secondary specifications between the customer and supplier is critical to the successful outcome of the project. It is currently not possible to have this level of understanding between remote parties via any automated quoting tool, primarily due to their inability to capture the nuances of what is important. So while they may return a result very quickly based on a few parameters, the result should be considered as directional at best, and misleading at worst.
The value of investing in a custom quote is high
We know that our customers’ custom injection molding projects are very often part of large multimillion-dollar product development efforts, so the benefits of investing a few more minutes are much more valuable than offering an instant, yet unrefined quote. While we understand the need to get information back “up the chain” quickly for decision purposes, we feel it is better for our clients to take the few extra minutes to discuss and eliminate an extra iteration or two from the process.
Quoting accurately as fast as possible for custom injection molding projects
Expertise on demand
At Xcentric, everything we do is custom and done on an extremely short timeline. And it is precisely due to these factors that we take as much time as needed to properly understand our customers’ requirements for every single project during the quotation phase. The more we invest with our customers at this phase the higher likelihood that we will meet the overall project timeline and budget.
Factors outside of the information conveyed with a 3D model and 2D prints can often be make or break for product development timelines, particularly when subjective aesthetic considerations are in play, or where the customer is not familiar with the nuances of injection molding. In CAD everything looks perfect, but to achieve close to perfection in the real world one must apply considerable human expertise still well beyond the best automated quoting engines today.
Experts backed by leading technology
The complexity of considering the many factors that go into quoting the production of injection molding tools and the production of parts from those tools is very high. Xcentric has built its business on streamlining the entire production process from quotation through to final delivery of injection molded parts.
Our experts are supported by Xcentric’s proprietary quoting engine which is linked to each step in our internal mold-making and molding departments, bringing years of past experience and technical detail to bear on each project to augment the judgement of the quoting engineer, not to replace it. Truly the best of both worlds.
Getting it right quickly is better than getting something instantly
While we strive to do everything as quickly as possible for our customers, we are focused on the ultimate goal: completing each project as quickly as possible in the required quality. This means that we may take time at certain critical phases in the project to be sure we have everything we need to then execute extremely efficiently. The most important of these steps is right at the beginning when we collaborate with our customers on creating a custom quote for every valuable project.